With 85 people under quarantine, Penns Valley temporarily closes for in-person learning
When Penns Valley kids left school Wednesday, they took their laptops, textbooks and learning materials with them. With 77 students and eight staff members under quarantine, the district will operate remotely until Dec. 1.
Penns Valley Area School District Superintendent Brian Griffith notified families of the closure in an email sent Wednesday afternoon, following a new COVID-19 case reported in district. The individual who tested positive — along with two presumed positive cases — exposed over 28 students and four staff members in the high, intermediate and elementary school buildings.
“Based on the current numbers of students and staff quarantined due to COVID, the district is, unfortunately, unable to operate in an in-person environment,” Griffith told families. “Effective Thursday, Nov. 19, we will be implementing a fully-remote learning option. The planned return for full in-person learning will be Tuesday, Dec. 1.”
The district also identified a “likely” positive coronavirus case that “could impact another 36 students and six staff across multiple schools,” Griffith wrote — adding Miles Township Elementary to the list of buildings with documented cases.
With an increasingly high number of exposures and delayed test results, contact tracing efforts have been challenged, he wrote.
“All of this together makes us increasingly concerned about our ability to keep our children and staff safe,” Griffith wrote.
During the closure, faculty and staff who are not quarantined will teach from their school classrooms while students learn at home. The district will announce additional information about internet access and food services.
The district has traced over 300 students for the coronavirus, either because they tested positive or were a close contact of someone who contracted the virus.
“We have seen the spread within our families, and now, we have seen cases spread to our students in school,” Griffith wrote. “Unfortunately, we are also aware of Penns Valley individuals who are extremely sick and even hospitalized.”
Wingate Elementary in the Bald Eagle Area School District remains closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak, with a planned Dec. 1 in-person reopening, and the State College Area School District announced that students will learn remotely for two weeks after the scheduled Thanksgiving break.
